


Before the Dawn - Prelude

by orphan_account



Series: Before the Dawn [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe, Collars, Hurt/Comfort, Language Barrier, M/M, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-08-22
Updated: 2012-08-22
Packaged: 2017-11-12 16:31:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/493344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat Vantas would have died sweeps ago if it hadn't been for his indigo-blooded moirail. Once faced with painful torture and imminent death for his mutated blood, he couldn't help but sympathize with a pathetic pink alien being auctioned off in a slave trade, doomed for a similar fate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Before the Dawn - Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> The first chronological installment of a soon to be collection of stories revolving around a hapless human stranded on Alternia, and his temperamental troll savior. 
> 
> Joint RP fic between Zilleniose and Evan (shymuffin) - beta'd by Ali (trickstersgambit)!

John Egbert couldn't remember when he closed his eyes. All he knew is that when he opened them, it was freezing. The type of searing cold that soaked into bones and burned skin; the sudden rush of pain made him gasp. The air he sucks in is warm, lukewarm, and humid. Nothing at all like it should be. No, the atmosphere should have been regulated, they spent hours of painstaking work to-

His thoughts are cut short. There's noise, too much noise; the light makes his eyes water and he winces them shut, arms lifting to shield himself from the onslaught on heat on his tired body. A cry escapes his throat, and he hears his partner do the same. A little farther off, he hears one of the girls scream, much louder for it to just be the discomfort of waking.

There are hands on him. Cold. Cold and hot. Something firm on his legs, as if they were dead - were they dead? The muscles ached and he let out another strangled noise, something clamping harshly around his neck. Was this an attack? Did they crash?

More cries erupted, something covered his eyes. A sharp stab into his back made him nearly bite his tongue. It all happened so fast, he was still dizzy from shock. It was then that John Egbert knew something must have gone horribly, horribly wrong.

He blacked out.

  


* * *

  


Karkat Vantas was beginning to regret coming to the crowded, noisy, hot slave house. It didn't help the location had been out of the way and was as cramped as it was hard to find. It had to be, though, with the nature of this particular troupe's 'wares'. He had heard of them from one of his 'friends', a highblood who was always trying to get into his favor, probably because he was moirail to Gamzee.

Once or twice he might have mentioned an interest in owning a slave and the other troll had latched onto the idea, encouraging it. Karkat had never seen the point in all the effort it'd take, or where the entertainment in owning the flesh of another would be. He usually brushed it off as 'fucking stupid' and left it at that when the topic was brought up. But this time...

This time the other troll had mentioned knowing a place where he could find something more exotic. Non-sentient species from off planet that were more pet than slave. He'd apparently heard word of some fantastic find that they'd come across that had generated a lot of interest. Despite himself Karkat realized that the prospect of a pet rather than a -slave- was far more interesting. Something he could just have around...

So he'd found himself here. Waiting with growing irritation for whatever the fuck to be unveiled and for the auction to get underway.

There were in fact more trolls bustling about than probably anticipated. There were a few cages strewn about, a few empty, others occupied by unfamiliar creatures, chained in place despite their rather hopeless imprisonment. The less expensive creatures, ones a little less uncommon in hives in this day and age, were even placed around the seats for the auction. Some were set in price, obviously not worth enough to have two trolls fight over a price. They were dumb animals found on conquered planets, taken from their home and dumped on Alternia with a better chance of probably being _eaten_ rather than kept as a pet. Pets certainly weren't an oddity, but most trolls preferred slaves or complete solitude.

Which is why the crowd at this particular troupe was a little out of the ordinary. But it wasn't unheard of; every now and then, traveling auctions such as this gets their hands on something truly extraordinary. Something luxurious, something only highbloods would hope to afford.

Any mid-blood could afford a low-blood slave. No, the one thing that was truly sought after was something better. Something new, something _different_. Something capable of understanding orders, while still having the distinct appeal of being otherworldly.

The troupe had gotten their hands on sentient aliens. And there was only one left. One they had been keeping on their hands for nearly ten days just to attract customers; but now was the time to profit.

The crowd slowly settled into seats, the overflow of bystanders having to stand to the side, close to the caged animals who offered not even a peep of protest. Most of the trolls in this place probably couldn't afford anywhere near what the alien will go for; many have come just to catch sight of one of the few aliens they've conquered that have the sense to stare back at them with intelligence.

The auctioneer, a greenblood, spent a good while getting the crowd worked up, making them slide to the edge of their seats. Nobody here was much past nine sweeps (it was then they would leave to the military unless they were of certain pedigree), so the excitement was less contained than the adults could offer.

The words were muddled and were nothing more than scripted drawls the audience has heard before. Not much thought was given to them, not until the green-blood motioned, and another troll walked over to a covered podium to the center of the stage, where he gripped the lining and gave it a firm tug. It was then a few of the trolls gasped; the podium had not been a podium at all, but a covered cage, where a small pink creature lay huddled in a ball, ankles bound together and wrists chained to one of the worn steel bars.

"...a weak species of unknown origin." The auctioneer continued, his words only now falling on eagerly listening ears. "It's remarkably similar to us, though there are a few obvious mutations. It cannot understand speech, but a translation chip may work if you've got the budget for one."

He continued on, as every eye in the audience fell on the spectacle before them. It certainly wasn't the first sentient alien their race has encountered, but this one seemed to almost be a mirror of their own species, albeit smaller and... more fragile. The thing obviously lacked horns (Were they cut off? Was it deformed?) and claws, and its skin looked almost translucent! The thing was backed against the bars as far away from the prying eyes as it could, shoulders shaking and knees curled into its chest. There were multiple wounds covering its skin, black and blue and disgustingly red, perhaps even sickly so.

A sharp kick to the side of the cage by the attendant revealed its face, though the thing's eyes continue to stay winced shut, face contorted into something that could only be seen as pure terror, the way a squeakbeast would cower before a howlbeast crunched on its bones. Red cheeks shone with remnants of tears (what color were they?), lips pressed into such a thin, tight line that the skin turned white.

"I'll start the bid at 10,000 marks."

Several voices erupted at the drop of the hat, and the price began to rise even at such an already high price.

It felt as though his stomach had dropped out, his mouth going dry as he took in the miserable creature in front of him. He had just long enough to see the cringe, the way it curled in on itself to try and defend what he assumed was it's vulnerable underside, to feel a twinge of sympathetic horror, and then the crowd erupted into a frenzy. More than a few of the trolls sitting in front of him stood up to be able to see, blocking his own view.

Karkat was frozen to his chair, shocked by how the brief glance had brought up such sickening memories. It didn't feel like so long ago, when that had been him. Except the voices had called out for his blood, not prices, granted what was happening now was nearly as bad. He could hear a few others commenting on how thin the creature looked, not fat enough. One other cried out in demand to see if it had any genitalia.

"Five hundred thousand marks!"

The troll standing next to him looked his way in mild surprise only to turn and call out a higher price, and then another voice somewhere else bid higher. Karkat licked his lips and went to call another price. Not even half way through someone else spoke over him, spiking the amount even higher. Fuck, this was not going to work.

He wasn't sure where his sudden resolve had come from, the passion and desperation he felt running through him (had Gamzee felt this way when he'd made the rush to get word in to keep him from being culled?). Karkat pushed himself up from his chair and began fighting his way through the crowd, making a very purposeful, direct route towards the auctioneer's podium. Fuck if he would let anyone else win this.

Unfortunately for Karkat though, a rough hand shoved at his chest one he got too close, blocking him from getting any closer to the auctioneer. A tall rustblood stood in his way, eyes glaring down at the shorter troll, though a spark of hesitance did seem to cross his complexion.

"Calm down, sir." The rustblood's voice was strained, as if he was biting his tongue halfway through each word. There was a tone of stern warning, but the words themselves were as polite as possible. "If you would please return to your seat..."

That hand was immediately shoved away and the other troll nearly received a face full of snarling Karkat for his troubles. "The fuck do you mean go back to my seat." He shoved aside the niggling guilt he felt whenever he had to pull rank... technically even this loser was higher on the hemospectrum than himself. "I want to talk to that sh..." He took a breath, reigning in his anger as best as he could. "I need to speak with that fucker because I have a lot of money and the damn innate right to do so."

He ground out his words, shoulders tense as the price continued to spiral upward. New bids were coming a bit more slowly, the others were either losing interest or having to tap out. He glared up at the taller troll, head cocked to the side and ready to fight if he needed to.

From his new vantage point, close to the stage and just a few strides from the podium he could see the creature. His blood-pusher throbbed painfully as he realized that it'd been hurt, had those fucks snapped off it's horns? Or did it just not have any? Maybe they were just really small, hidden somewhere in that mass of dark hair. One of the cage hands was advancing towards it with some kind of intent.

Another kick to the cage, and the attended snarled something drowned out by a bid. He leaned down, repeating himself with another harsh kick, the metal chains clattering quite loudly as the creature inside stiffened, appearing to convulse a bit before his legs straightened out a bit, the arms chained behind his back practically useless.

A few of the trolls in the audience grimaces, but more seemed to be intrigued, perhaps unnervingly so. The attendant slammed a palm to the top of the cage, and the caged alien made a noise and moved his knees further away from his body. It wasn't like Karkat could see from his current position, but it didn't take a whole lot of critical thinking to realize just what the audience (those with the best view, anyway) was looking at. A few condescending laughs erupted, a few making comments on the "bizarre genitals" the alien had - the creature in question even shakier than before now.

The rustblood, having been distracted by the scene himself, straightened back up and gave Karkat a _very_ unsure gaze. Dark eyes flickered down to the smaller troll's sign on the front of his shirt a few times before he backed up, motioning to the auctioneer. Honestly, he wasn't even doing much at the moment, the way the trolls kept one-upping each other in a fairly rhythmic fashion. The price was up to six hundred and three marks now.

After some deliberation, the green-blood took a few steps away from his podium, and the single step down to close the distance about halfway between himself and Karkat.

"What can I do for you, sir?" The troll forced a smile, hands working themselves, visibly nervous and perhaps more than a little anxious to get back to the stage.

"I want that." Karkat pointed towards the caged creature, face a deadpan of seriousness. "I will pay whatever you assholes want, just stop the auction." He paused, gaze flicking back towards the stage where the cage hand was making sure the creature kept it's legs spread. The crowd hooted and jeered, leered and made sounds of disgust.

"And put the cover back over it." Give the thing some fucking dignity.

"I understand your.... enthusiasm, sir. But why not keep bidding? Surely someone such as you would have enough money to outbid everyone here in the first place..." It wasn't clear if the auctioneer was completely sure of the offer himself. How high of a price could he offer here, without insulting?

Karkat gave his best, insulted highblood sneer. "Are you suggesting I don't have enough and some bulgemunch might actually outbid me?"

On stage the cage hand reached through the bars, gripping John by the chin and forcing him to look up. He gave a squeeze, trying to urge some kind of reaction out of him. Karkat felt his hackles rising. This was worse... this was so much fucking worse. His gaze flicked back and forth between watching the goings on on stage and the obviously nervous auctioneer in front of him.

"O-of course not!" The green-blood actually stuttered, unbridled anxiety washing over his features quiet readily at the outburst. "I'm sure we can negotiate something..."

He prattled on, most likely trying to buy himself some time to think of the best price to offer. After all, this particular customer seemed to be... well, he didn't want to take many chances with this one. He didn't dare risk angering a troll of such pedigree.

The attendant grinned and let go of the squirming creature, a sharp cry falling from its eerily similar lips. He lay there gasping as the patrons watched on, obviously enjoying the spectacle; though a few of the bidders began to wonder if this specimen may prove to be too fragile. There were already three more shallow cuts along its cheeks where the attendant had grabbed him; surely its skin wasn't made of paper!

The bids were slowing, but they continued to increase. A few unintelligible hollers (at least from Karkat's standpoint), and more started to chatter excitedly and echo in reply. After some deliberation, the cage door was unlatched, and the maroonblood grasped the creature by the cuffs at its ankles, dragging him out from the steel bars. It cried - nearly a scream, but it sounded too hoarse to get that loud. Almost as if its voice was on the verge of dying.

"... but certainly, you wouldn't think the price of two million would be too much, now would you?" The auctioneer's voice once again fell on Karkat's ears.

Karkat had been distracted by the wails of dismay that had been coming from the direction of the cage. He watched with gritted teeth at the manhandling, the auctioneer’s voice almost drowned out by the increased volume of the crowd as the creature was brought into better view for them to ogle.

He rounded on the greenblood when the price was named, snarling. "The last bid was seven hundred thousand, and you're asking for _two million_? Fucking robbery."

“Well sir, I do have to make a profit. Perhaps, if you would like, we could discuss trading in my office...”

Despite the alien making all sorts of fussy noises, the attendant shoved the creature to his back. It was squirming rather effectively even with all the wounds riddling its body, and the maroon-blood nearly lost his grasp – but really, where was it going to go with its feet and wrists bound like that? But the attendant was able to regain control and roughly grabbed the creature with one arm around its middle, free hand skillfully unclasping the lock at the alien's pale ankles.

He hoisted the creature up a little bit, without obviously no fear of retaliation (the thing didn't even have fangs!), and made it sit firmly on the ground. Before it could try to escape, a firm hand and sharp claws grasps its hips and it made another pitiful noise of pain – but that was nothing compared to what came next.

The maroon-blood forced the creature's legs apart, and it froze. Its eyes grew wide, face even paler than before, if it was at all possible. The patrons raised their voices, among them a few sarcastic whistles and cat-calls, while others gazed with interest and a tangible amount of disgust. Upon closer inspection, the alien's genitalia was even more mutated than previously thought. In that passing moment of pure terror, it began to move again, even _more_ desperate to get away, but the attendant holding him down was having none of it.

From where Karkat stood, he couldn't see clearly what was going on – the next few seconds were a blur. The maroon-blood reached down, claws grazing painfully against the alien's hips, and the hand disappeared between its pale legs.

It was then the creature _screamed_. Unabashed, guttural, and utterly terrified.

The sound shrilled above all other sounds. Karkat tore his arm from the auctioneer's grasp, who'd taken hold of his elbow in an attempt to steer him towards his 'office'. He'd almost gone along with it as well, falling into a grudging placidity if only so he could haggle the price to something more reasonable and get the fuck out of there.

He shoved at the two trolls, his pupils thinning to slits as he strained to see what was happening. He got the sense that the alien was out of it's cage, stationed on the floor with the maroonblooded cage hand leering over him. Karkat strained for a moment, his attempt to get sight of the situation ending as soon as another thin, desperate cry rose and fell.

With a snarl he snapped around, reaching out and grabbing the greenblooded troll by the front of his jacket. He drew him in close, clenching hard to ensure the fabric would tighten threateningly. "Two million, asshole, but it better not have any lasting damage, seen or unseen." He gave a firm shake, savoring the way the other troll scrabbled at his hand for purchase. He let go, shoving him back. "Do it. _Now_."

The auctioneer garbled absolute nonsense as he tried to regain his bearings, face tinted green from the tight hold around his collar. A few nearby trolls with similar vests as the ringleader advanced closer - bodyguards, but ones that weren't entirely sure if physically forcing their way into this mess was the smartest decision.

The greenblood rubbed his neck a bit and stumbled backwards, eyes glued to Karkat for a moment before he returned to his podium, taking hold of the voice-amplifying device. "L-ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!"

The rustblood holding on to the alien halted his actions and glanced back at the auctioneer, who was motioning for him to let the creature go. The fleshy pink thing cried again as the troll grabbed his ankles once more, about to latch the metal bands back on to keep it from running off – but it kicked and squirmed so much the troll quickly gave up; it's not like this thing was his problem anymore, anyway.. There was one last sharp cry of pain as the alien was shoved back behind the bars (thankfully not that far from his current position), and the door latched shut.

The crowd muttered to each other in confusion, and a few of the bidders began to look excited. Did they miss something? Perhaps they won?

"A very _generous_ price offer of two million!" The auctioneer announced with enthusiasm, and a few gasps echoed. That much? It's almost unheard of for bids of _slaves_ to go much above a million. Who could have that much money to blow on something like this? Even for something so rare, that was quite the paycheck.

The greenblood motioned for Karkat to come to the podium - there wasn't any more auctions to speak of, so another greenblood stepped forward to make the closing announcements, though many trolls were staying to catch a glimpse of who made such a large purchase.

Karkat schooled his expression into a haughty scowl and approached the podium. He resisted the urge to stare intently at the cage, try and see what had been done to make the fragile pink thing make the sounds it had. It had sounded so... troll-like. It was obviously more sentient than they'd advertised but that only meant it'd been that more important that he win the auction. An annoyed voice in the back of his mind wondered what the fuck he'd do with it when he got it home.

He half turned towards the crowd, a subtle way to ensure they took note of the color he wore. He didn't want any fucks getting any ideas thinking they could try and hijack him and take the alien as their own. Karkat extended his right wrist to the auctioneer, waiting with as much projected patience as he could muster.

"Cover that up." He commented, waving a hand nonchalantly towards the cage. He looked on as the pair of maroonblooded trolls took the cover and slid it back over, effectively shielding the alien from the sight of the crowd. Karkat let out an internal sigh, turning to inspect the auctioneer as he scanned the device that would directly take the funds from his accounts over his wrist. There was a moment as the transaction verified, he could almost see the money hungry bastard holding his breath as he watched the display. The giddy smile that curved his lips up as it came back 'APPROVED' only made Karkat want to claws his face even more.

He took his arm back and walked over towards the cage, stopping beside it and looking towards the crew. "Hurry the fuck up, I want what I paid for."

There was a subtle rattling in the now covered cage, the alien probably still attempting the futile struggle of trying to get free of the cuffs on its wrists. The maroonblood closest to Karkat gave him a rather unenthusiastic look.

"We can have it shipped tomorrow, first thing after the sun sets." He commented, turning back to his partner as they once again prepared to load the cage on the portable device.

"What."

The single word came out sharper than he'd intended it to. He tried to reign in the fresh wave of irritation and then decided he didn't care anymore. "Fuck that. I want it now. Is your thinkpan rotten or did you really forget I just shelled out two million for this piece of glorified furniture." He steamrolled on, hoping his tirade would cow the greenblood. "Get it ready for transport _now_ , I'll take it in my own damn ship. Don't damage it, just make sure it can't wriggle away or something."

"O-of course! Of course, sir!" The troll tensed considerably the moment Karkat let the flood gates open; there was no way in hell he was going to risk upsetting this guy over something this trivial. He motioned to his partner, exchanging a few quick words before the cage was moved successfully on the transport device. "We'll accompany you to your... ship." It was as if the word was foreign on his tongue. It wasn't often a troll was able to not only afford, but have the privilege of traveling by sea.

With a slight nod Karkat showed that he would agree to this inconvenience. He turned and began walking, assuming that they'd follow behind him without question or hesitation. His insides were churning anxiously, trying to figure out what the fuck he'd do with the alien creature once he got it on his ship as he lead them towards it. Unlike most of the highbloods Karkat had a smaller, modest ship. He'd been reluctant to have it in the first place, one of his first few purchases with the completely ridiculous amount of marks he'd obtained in literally a night's time thanks to Gamzee.

He saw to the loading of the cage, looking sidelong at the auctioneer as he stood beside him directing the maroonblooded trolls on placing it in the narrow space of his ship. When it was settled none too lightly in a free space he turned to Karkat, giving a slightly strained smile, head canted slightly in polite difference. "There you are, sir. Is there anything I might do to be of service...?"

"No, you can go fuck off and count your marks." Karkat waved a hand as he turned, not catching the glint of ill will in the greenblooded troll's eye before he called to the two workers and ordered them to push the transport device back.

He didn't look back as he stepped onto the ship, making his way immediately to the cockpit. He jabbed aggressively at the controls, steering them out of the bay that it had been parked in and setting a course towards his hive and the sea. He waited until he was a safe distance away before jamming in the auto-pilot and heading towards the back.

Karkat stood still in front of the cage, listening for any sounds that the creature inside might be making, arms crossed over his chest. What the fuck had he just gotten himself into.

At first the cage was silent - eerily quiet, almost as if the sketchy trolls loading the cargo had the guts to try and swindle a highblood. But no, the second the ship carried farther out to sea and Karkat had spent a good thirty seconds lost deep in thought, the ship shook lightly from the turbulent waves below.

The reaction was instant; a surprised, loud yelp and sharp clattering of metal beneath the covered prison. Soft pattering soon followed, the creature trying to regain its balance, but the cage was barely tall enough for it to even sit up completely straight.

He waited until the sounds stopped before moving forward, reaching out to grasp a corner of the canvas. He hesitated a moment, sure that it could see him holding onto the edge of the fabric. He cleared his throat, hadn't the auctioneer said that it couldn't understand spoken language? A translator chip would have to be installed and fuck if this thing was turning out to be far more financially draining than he'd first imagined it would.

"I'm going to lift the cover." It was more out of some oddly placed politeness that he announced his action before just peeling it back. He'd been in a position similar what felt like not very long ago... he'd have given anything to keep Gamzee from seeing him in the state he'd been in initially. Regardless that said he pulled back the cover, lifting it up and setting it over the top of the cage. Stepping back, Karkat looked through the metal bars at the creature within. He couldn't hide a faint thrill of interest - this was an _alien_ , after all.

The creature shrank back immediately once the cover came off, eyes wincing shut and body curling in on itself in the same fashion it had done during the auction. A tiny noise escaped it, barely audible at all, and it shivered, trying to keep its knees as close to its chest as possible.

The rocking of the boat was horrible. Metal against raw skin was abrasive enough, and the wounds riddling the alien's body looked irritated enough due to lack of treatment. Dark red stained a few of the bars; not enough to worry about medical attention, but enough to know that those cuts were intentional. The creature seemed intent on disappearing, refusing to believe it was there at all. Its eyes stayed glued shut, body rigid.

It was a miserable sight, one that made Karkat's jaw clench angrily and feel a faint crest-fallen jolt of his heart that he'd been at all excited at the thrill of seeing something alien. That didn't matter... what mattered was the angry, swollen, dirty looking wounds. How long had they said they'd kept it? How long had it gone without any kind of proper treatment or care? What if it was unhealthy or sick or hurting more than what he could see on the surface.

"Hey." Karkat growled lowly, trying to sound soft but only succeeding in sounding grudging. "You're safe, okay? You don't need to be huddled in the corner like some wriggler, nothing's going to hurt you anymore, damn it."

He gave a grunt, giving up for the moment and easing down to sit beside the cage. The thing wasn't going to leave it's corner, it was too busy being terrified out of it's probably tiny mind. It was sentient but he was pretty sure it wasn't too much more than the bare necessity to be qualified as such. With a sigh he tugged out his personal handheld communication device, thinking a moment on who would be best to contact to order what he'd need. He dialed the number in and waited for the ring.

"Hey. Yeah, no. Haha, very funny. ... Just shut the fuck up already, god you dick. I'm calling you because I need to ask a favor. ... No. _No_." A tick began in his jaw as he clenched and unclenched his teeth in aggravation. "Fuck. Just order me a translator chip and a sla-. ...A collar for-. Yeah... The hell do you think you know, just do it." He pulled the cell away and hit the hang up button savagely, clutching the device in his hand before giving a tired sigh. He curled his knees up to his chest and draped his arms over them, letting his head fall against them. He closed his eyes in the tiny space of darkness he'd created and wished that things could be easier.

The creature didn't dare move, breath heavy and uneven as the metal bars dug into painful spots on its back. Hands clenched even tighter over its head, fingers weaving harshly into the dull black hair - was there blood in that, too? It was a little hard to see with the lack of light and the pigment of the locks. Even after Karkat had stopped talking, the alien continued to act as if the troll might as well have been spewing fire. Well, for all it knew, Karkat could. A rough wave rocked the boat a bit sharply, just enough to make the creature in the cage lurch forward a few inches before slamming back into the metal bars, hitting a vertebrae square-on; perhaps sitting that closely to the prison walls wasn't a wonderful idea after all.

It gave a sharp but low cry, breath hissing through its dull teeth as it resigned to sitting up, a hand moving to press against the sore spot on its back. Blue eyes winced open hesitantly as it clenched its jaw, gaze only flickering around for very brief moments before returning to stare at the metal floor beneath its knees. It didn't appear to notice Karkat had taken a seat barely an arm's length away on the other side of the cage bars.

Maybe reaching out, threading a hand quietly through the bars with fingers extended, palm out wasn't the best idea. The thing was spooked, obviously, and who knows what damage it could do. Maybe it was hiding some savage venom that the slavers hadn't had the misfortune of experiencing. But Karkat just... couldn't let it stay like that. His heart crumbled a little each time he looked at the terrified, broken posture of the alien.

He'd been that way once, he'd known that pain.

So it was the faintest of touches, trying to be as delicate about it as he could manage, he touched the thing's arm with the side of his hand. He noted right away how cold it was to the touch; was that it's normal temperature? Second how soft... It made him want to reach out and touch those dark, dark locks. They looked dirty as all fuck and matted with something that was probably blood. It would definitely need a bath once they got back to his hive.

The reaction was instantaneous; and completely understandable. Even though Karkat had offered such a feather-light touch, the creature jumped and backed into a few adjacent bars, eyes now wide with terror as they finally focused on the outstretched hand - and Karkat. It let out a strangled, horrified noise once it noticed it could move no further, not in this tiny prison, and its eyes winced again. Was it still in pain? It stared at Karkat's hand for a moment, lips slightly parted as its chest heaved in abnormally heavy breaths.

It was clenched both hands around his arms in a feeble attempt to protect itself, as if it was expecting something to happen. Judging by numerous cuts littering its pale skin, there was no doubt that it had seen its fair share of trolls' claws. Even though its back was pressed firmly against metal, every now and then a foot scraped the bottom desperately in an attempt to move as far away from Karkat as possible.

Karkat's hand clenched into an angry fist as it jerked away from his touch. Hurt flashed across his face for a second, replaced quickly by anger. Why should he be hurt that it didn't want him to touch? He shouldn't be surprised at all, really. He shouldn't give any kind of fun. With a faint snarl of, "Fine." he drew back and stalked away from the cage towards the cockpit, sitting down in the chair heavily. They were nearly to his hive, anyway. And besides, the crappy autopilot was driving them through every pocket of turbulence that existed in the space between. Obviously he should drive instead of paying the strange, pathetic creature back there.

 _Platonically_ pathetic.

He steered towards his hive, descending in a slow, tight spiral, pushing all thoughts on how he'd manage to get this thing inside without any struggle until they'd landed. He let the shuttle turn power off, remaining in the captain's seat as he glowered angrily out towards his personal docking bay. It wouldn't let him near it... it didn't understand what he was saying... shit, he hoped it wouldn't struggle the entire way. Heaving a sigh he got up and walked back out to the cage, reaching out to tear the rest of the cover off and toss it to the side. He stood, hands on his hips, looking down at the cowering creature and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Oh my god, you're going to make this as hard as possible, aren't you. Come on." He reached out, unlocking the cage and swinging the door open, standing slightly to the side. "Get your fucking ass out here."

At first, the only thing that Karkat was given was a nervous stare, the creature having winced its eye shut for a moment when the door initially opened. Its jaw set tightly - a lot of its mannerisms were so eerily troll - and it glanced around quickly like a frightened hopbeast. It was looking everywhere but the damn exit, the sound of metal clanking as it appeared to try and fiddle with the cuffs oh his wrists. It then grew still once more, eyes shutting tightly as if to say indignantly, _there was no fucking way it was going to move from this forsaken spot._

The metal bars surrounding it was a cage, but it was also, if anything else, a shield. There really wasn't any use staying put, though. If this troll was anything like the others, he'd have a quick and violent temper; making him wait wasn't the best idea. Cautiously, the creature moved to its knees, stepping on one foot and rather clumsily standing up just outside the door.

It was kind of small, even on two feet; but the slouched, defensive posture made it look even tinier. If it had been a troll, there was no way it could have been much over six sweeps old. It backed up a single step, shoulder blades hitting the top of the cage it had been in for so long. It seemed wobbly, even moreso than someone who didn't have their sea legs - not that the waves at the shoreline were able to rock the ship very much anyway. The alien's arms shifted a bit behind it, metal clanking again as it hit one of the bars. It looked as if it had resigned to something, limbs shaking with nervous energy and understandable weakness. Blue eyes met Karkat's own black ones for a fleeting moment, before the creature took in a deep breath -

\- And promptly bolted, heading towards the dock as fast as it could possibly manage.

Karkat swore loudly, shoved back by the sudden movement of the creature. He'd gone and gotten caught up in the surprisingly vibrant blue of it's eyes. It was small, looked so young, but it's eyes had already filled in with color, making it look strangely older. He'd been surprised by the color of them when it had made it's break. The troll reached out reflexively, trying to grab hold of the jangling length of chain at it's wrists as it shoved passed only to miss and stumble forward, barking his shin on the edge of a box and doubling over in surprised pain.

"Shit!" He stumbled forward, feet catching in the debris on the ground and giving the creature more time to slip away, get ahead of him. He was startled and pissed but for all it's troll-like qualities he was relatively confident he'd be able to out run the thing. It couldn't get too far. "Hey. Fuck- stop!"

Even with such a head start, the creature wasn't able to get far - it stumbled with every few steps, and it faltered with the steps to the dock; they were wide and moving from the waves. But Karkat's voice only made it panic more, and it ran blindly over the steps, only managing to land on the wooden dock out of pure luck. Its breath was coming out in desperate gasps, whimpering as it stumbled; with as many superficial wounds littering its body, one had to wonder if it harbored anything else, like fractured bones or pulled muscles. Even with the breaks it got during the desperate escape, it was still far too slow compared to a troll's strength, and even then - with Karkat's footsteps not far behind it - one misplaced step caused an ankle to twist painfully and it fell to the ground with a sharp cry, only a few steps away from Karkat's lawnring.

It scrambled desperately, trying to gain purchase on the wooden planks beneath it. Suddenly it's vision was filled with white. Karkat threw the canvas over the scrambling creature and lunged forward, grabbing hold of it and struggling to get his arms wrapped around it, trying to pin it's own against it's sides while avoiding any kicking limbs.

"Calm the fuck down, do you know what they do to slaves who run? Shit, no. It'd be even worse than getting a foot hacked off so you're nothing more than a laborer with a stump, they probably _kill_ you." He snarled low, a faint hiss adding sibilance to his words. He tightened his grip, giving a tiny shake to try and further emphasis how stupid the thing was being.

It screamed again - but it was different this time, it wasn't just the cry of an animal, they were _words_. Alien words, that made no sense and meant nothing to Karkat, but it continued, kicking and squirming with it's voice choked in a sob. The words were desperate, begging, pleading. But the creature was already so weak, even before it tried to run. It wasn't long before the struggling slowed to a stop, legs shaking rather than kicking furiously. And it continued to whimper, to _talk_. It was so pitiful, as if it knew every syllable fell on deaf ears.

"What?" Karkat was obviously taken aback that the thing had what seemed to be a language. Those weren't just sounds... even as nonsensical as they were to him he was almost sure it was trying to speak. His blood pusher clenched up painfully. He couldn't understand what it was saying but the tone of voice, the sudden slack as the creature went limp was obvious enough. It was probably asking him not to kill it.

Or... something like that. It sounded a little like it was just repeating the same noise over and over.

Karkat licked his lips nervously, torn between trying to do something that might set it at ease and just... getting it into the hive. He decided to do something somewhere between both options. The troll shifted the creature around, rolling off of it so he wasn't pressing it flat into the ground, shifting his arms until he was sure he had one underneath it's legs, the other wrapped around it's shoulders. He made sure it was tucked up securely in the white cover before standing up, holding it close to his chest and beginning the rest of the walk across his lawnring.

Karkat kept his gaze directly forward, throat feeling suddenly dry as he carried this thing... it was so much like a troll but it felt so delicate... so fragile in his arms, like if he squeezed too hard he might break it. He wondered distantly if this was how the blue blooded Equius felt.

The creature didn't make another move. Either it was hurt, or too tired, or perhaps new that even if it tried to run again, it was a useless effort. But what it did was somehow even worse than kicking and screaming; it shook. Like a captured sqeakbeast, it stayed nearly motionless inside the cover, save for the methodical shivering and shallow gasps of air. Even the words stopped before long.

The feel of those muscles tensing and the intense trembling made him feel sick. Had he been like this? This scared when Gamzee had managed to stop the masses from culling him publicly out of some kind of sick duty they felt?

Probably.

Now it was his own skewed sense of duty that he nudged open the door to his hive, heaving a heavy breath and making straight towards the hygiene block. He noticed a package set neatly on his hivestep but left it there for now, he'd grab that after he took care of... this thing.

Karkat stepped into the clean white tile of the block, pausing a second as he thought of how to handle the situation. He was at a loss... it didn't want him touching it and he could understand why. He didn't really blaim it but _fuck_ if that didn't make trying to help it all the more difficult. If it could just understand what he was saying this would be so much easier.

"That box had better be the translator chip. Here." He dumped the thing, canvas and all, into the ablution trap and stepped back rapidly, giving it room. "...I'm going to have to show you how to bathe, aren't I." The ire in his tone was growing rapidly. He had _shit to do_ but instead he was stuck making sure this thing didn't drown itself. "Look just. Twist the knobs...Turn on the water. Wa-TER. Whatever, I don't have time for this bullshit." He made a twisting motion with his hands, then pointed at the faucet - fuck was it even paying attention?

Karkat turned, intent on getting that package and ripping it to shreds. He made sure the door was shut securely behind him, and made his way towards the front of his hive as fast as possible. He'd grab the box, then run back and make sure the thing wasn't running loose in his hive.

The alien just laid there, sore from being thrown in the ablution trap. Though it could now see, its eyes only fell on Karkat when he took his leave, door shutting behind him. The troll's explanation was futile, and the creature just sat there, fumbling as it sat up, looking around desperately. The troll had left. The frantic urge to escape overcame it again, and it shakily got to its feet, stepping out of the ablution trap like it was a contraption that was going to strike a spear through its chest.

The walls.

Walls are familiar. As far as it could tell, there was nothing weird about walls. So it stuck to one, hands splayed out and back pressing against the one furthest away from the trap. It looked down at the cool tile beneath its feet. Everything looked so clean, nothing like the rooms it had been in before. There were no chains, no rope, no cages with screaming animals and no trolls coming after it. It was almost overloading his senses. And then, it saw it - the window.

Cautiously, it took a few slow steps that hastened as it came up to the window, already looking for a latch, something that would allow him to escape. It pushed on the glass, fingers feeling around the edges...

Oh, there was a button, hidden on the right side. A click, and the window slid down, into the wall. They were up on the second floor. But it had to try. If it stayed..... it knew what trolls did to the _toys_ they purchased from that hell hole. It wasn't just slavery. It could still hear the screams when the memories returned; cries of pain and death, the sound of skin tearing and bones being crushed. If it wasn't put into terrifying servitude, it was going to be played with at best. Or worse - _eaten_. It reached out, feeling for the ledge before attempting to lift itself up.

"Hey!" Karkat dropped the box he'd been in the process of opening as soon as he'd opened the door and saw the creature scrabbling for the window. He lunged forward, arms out stretched to grab it around the middle.

The alien let out a terrified cry, fingers desperately clutching the sill for all of two seconds before Karkat's strength was too much to bear. He thought once he was able to work his arms under his legs, it would have been easier; but no, the metal clasp keeping his wrists trapped together continued to be the bane of his escape once again.

The attempts to fight itself free of Karkat's grasp dwindled quickly, and it resigned to shuddered gasps and _words_ again, words that were getting increasingly unintelligible even to someone who couldn't translate them. Up this close, Karkat could see how red its eyes were, how flushed its face was. Fresh tears were still falling down its cheeks, shoulders shaking, always trying to curl its limbs closer to itself like a shell-beast trying to retreat in on itself.

With a snarl Karkat dropped the thing back into the ablution trap, reaching down to grab onto the chain that connected it's hands together.

"Can you not get the fucking basic concept of _stay here_ through your tiny thinkpan?" He reached out and jabbed angrily at the thing's head with a fingertip to accentuate his words. After pulling the canvas out of the trap, he reached over with his free hand and twisted the knob on the hot faucet, letting the water rush down into the basin. He fiddled a little with the cold, letting the water run over his hand as he continued to twist the knobs back and forth until he was satisfied that it was neither too hot or two cold... at least for him. With another snap of anger he realized that what he considered a good temperature might not be the same. There was no way to tell because he couldn't understand it, and it couldn't understand him.

For a brief flash of a moment he thought about shaking the chain he held, rattling the despondent, scuttling monster and trying to jostle it into rationality.

" _I don't. Want. To hurt you!_ " He was bellowing by now. "Get it through your numbingly pathetic little brain that I am _not_ going to hurt you. I haven't even raised my hand to you, you lick-spittle idiot. What the fuck was I thinking." He dropped the chain and stalked back towards where he'd dropped the box, slamming the door shut and turning the lock. He stooped, picked it up, and turned quickly to be sure it wouldn't try and escape again.

For good measure he circled around and pushed the window back up, finally moving back over and sitting directly beside the ablution trap so it couldn't get any ideas. He twisted the knobs so the water stopped, then grabbed a wash cloth and threw it disgustedly into the water, pushing in a bar of soap as well.

"You had better know how to fucking wash yourself because I swear if I have to do that too... oh fuck what if you aren't house trained." He groaned and slashed at the cardboard box in his lap, opening it non-too delicately.

The alien continued to shiver even though the water was pleasantly hot, and at first he cringed and backed up when Karkat shoved the towel and soap at him. But the troll looked angry - no, that was never good. It was best to just do what it wanted. Besides... was he just wanting it to bathe? That seemed.... harmless enough. With shaky hands, he reached out, clumsily catching the bar of soap in one hand, the towel in the other, but his wrists were still bound together, and he really didn't know what to do.

The creature looked less like it was about to die, though terror was still evident in its eyes - and it amplified when it tried to rub the soap against the cloth, and didn't find the effort to produce any lather. It was nearly impossible with its wrists practically immobile. Blue eyes flashed over to Karkat and back to his hands nervously, as if it wasn't sure which was worse; trying to ask for its wrists to be freed, or being unable to do what the troll wanted. Not that they could really communicate, anyway.

Karkat wasn't paying it any attention, though. He was too busy rummaging through the box on his lap. To one side was the collar that he'd ordered, which was fine but... The translator chip was no where. He pawed through the packaging, dumped it out onto the floor, rummaged through and still nothing. He sighed and let the cardboard drop to the ground in defeated anger, glancing over to see those blue, blue eyes staring at him. His blood pusher thumped hard for a moment, startled again by the color of them and the jarring difference of appearance. His own eyes flicked down when he saw a slight movement, catching how it lifted it's wrists and made a feeble attempt to put soap and cloth together

"What. You want me to do it for you...?" He stared back before holding out his hand. He fully expected the stupid thing to have another episode and flip out but at this point he could hardly summon the bile to rage at it any more. It was scared. It was probably slightly stupid. At least it could comprehend some things, like being clean. It had been trying to make a token effort of doing the job.

Karkat's question was met with a lost look, even if the recognition was there. Its fingers shook a bit, and it swallowed. It looked down at its hands again, starting to feel a little desperate again as it must have been wondering which route it should take. The troll obviously wanted to see _something_ , but he seemed a little less angry now. At least, there wasn't as much venom in his words. Feeling a little brave, the alien once again attempted to lather up the hand towel, nearly dropping the soap in the process, and still there was hardly any residue on the cloth. It then looked back up at Karkat with a rather pitiful look, a question in its eyes but it already knew words were useless.

This was getting somewhere. Almost.

At least it wasn't mindlessly trying to run.

Now that it's eyes weren't glazed with fear he could definitely tell there was a spark of intelligence in them. He could either take the cloth and soap from it and wash it himself or he could remove the probably heavy metal cuffs from around it's wrists. He chewed his lower lip before shifting his weight, reaching down to retrieve the key he'd been given and holding it up for the creature to see. He pointed towards the cuffs, then made a 'come here' motion with one crooked claw.

"I'll let you go but if you try and run, so help me..."

There was way too much hesitance for the alien to be anywhere near comfortable in Karkat's presence; after two breaths, the creature shifted and sat up straighter, reaching its arms out towards the troll, limbs still shaking faintly. It was watching him so intently, as if waiting for punishment, for pain. Karkat chased him, shoved him around, but he hadn't lashed out in any intentionally painful way. However, during those long ten days spent at the slave trader's... it was used to receiving pain when it so much as breathed wrong, claws were the most common weapons, after all, so it was no surprise that it grew pale and felt a little ill when Karkat moved his hands closer to his wrists.

Slowly, very slowly he reached out and grasped the short chain that spanned between it's wrists, holding it steady as he reached out to insert the key and turn it. The lock clicked, the cuffs opened, and the heavy weight fell away.

Karkat kept his own wary gaze on the alien as he did the same to the other, drawing away and setting the metal down on the floor beside him.

"Don't make me regret doing that. Now go ahead... wash." He made a gesture to scrub the soap against the towel and then rub it over himself, hoping the creature would imitate. Though it seemed calm enough that he could take over if he had to.

The alien pulled its hands away hastily once the cuffs were off, and it rubbed them tenderly, shoulders held stiff. The metal cuffs must have been on it the entire time it was there. The skin around its wrists looked rubbed raw, red and abused.

It took a moment to submerge them in the water, wincing and biting back a noise halfway. It held its breath for a short while, before relaxing more than Karkat ever saw. It wasn't _comfortable_ , that much was obvious, but it seemed different. It brought its hands up again, fingers gingerly running over the red skin.

Blue eyes glanced up at Karkat just once, quickly. Another breath and it looked up with a bit of resolve, a hesitant expression overwhelming the one of pure terror that it had been wearing until now. And its lips twitched a bit, offering the tiniest smile. Hopeful, thankful, even if it looked entirely unsure if the small kindness it just received was something it could ever expect again.

Karkat just couldn't stop staring. Everything was different, like it was a completely changed creature. He let out a weak puff of breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, waiting for it to react violently in one way or the other so when it didn't... when it _smiled_ he was caught completely off guard. He couldn't help but give a faint laugh.

"Heh. Yeah... see? I'm your fucking friend here, not going to hurt you. Promise." He tried looking it in the eyes, tries emphasizing how much he promised that he wouldn't cause harm. "I'm not one of those shit bags... they can't think for themselves. They just mindlessly follow whatever orders the highbloods give them like the bulge sucking drones they are."

There was no use talking, it couldn't understand, but it still felt nice to speak words to it. It might only be able to pick up in the inflection and tone.

Karkat leaned back a little, sighing as he watched it - well, no.

It must have had a sex. He let his gaze flick down, intending for it to just be a brief glance to try and discern some kind of sex except his gaze lingered for a few moments longer, eyes going wide. Was that some kind of... external genitalia?

"Holy _fuck_ that's weird, okay. Sorry." He glanced promptly towards the ceiling, swallowing hard. The temptation to stare was overwhelming. It had looked _sort_ of like his own, though? Sort of. But it lacked chest masses so... "You're a boy, huh? Male? Uh. Never mind." He pressed a hand over his eyes and sighed, leaning back.

The creature tensed considerably, moving to sit back down on its rear so it could draw its knees up again. It - no, it had to be a he - watched Karkat nervously.

Considering that reaction, this past night must not have been the first time its weird alien genitalia was... observed. And as much as it hurt to think about, there were cuts all over his thighs and abdomen. There probably wasn't just simple observing going on. The glance Karkat made didn't make the alien freeze up completely and become a useless sack of meat like he had been earlier.

After a few tense moments, the boy resumed washing himself, but had his eyes on Karkat most of the time. He winced as he brushed over tender skin - cuts, bruises, raw wounds. There was blood, but most of it was dried. Dark flakes and among fresh, bright strands. In this light it could clearly be seen - His blood was red. Bright cherry red.

Karkat reached out, curling his hand around the alien's wrist loosely and tugging it forward. Slowly he turned it over, pulled it out to extend his arm, leaned in close with lips pressed thinly together as he found a cut that had just been scrubbed clean that seeped the vital fluid slowly. The boy had tensed, but made no effort to struggle.

He slid his hand down over the creature's arm, stopping to press his thumb against the flesh that felt thin and delicate, being mindful of his claws. More red seeped out, dark as it welled up, bright once smeared.

The troll wasn't sure if he was shaking, but to be safe he let go, looking at his fingertips where the blood was smeared across the tips. For a very long time he just looked, finally reaching down to wipe it off on a towel. He lifted his eyes to the creature.

"You're safe here. Nothing... _nothing_ will hurt you, okay?" He licked his dry lips nervously, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. He had so many questions he wanted to ask. He was going to have words with whoever had forgotten to add the translation chip to his order along with the collar. The palpable anxiety shrank away; it was still there, as it will undoubtedly would be for quite some time, but it ebbed away to a shallow nagging rather than a tidal wave of tension.

The alien watched Karkat intently, eyes fixated on him and he.... he relaxed. He still seemed confused, brows furrowed into a tight knot, head tilted just slightly to one side as the troll garbled nonsensical sounds in his foreign language.

The faintest hint of recognition shone back in those blue eyes, and he released a breath with an odd noise - it could have been a word - and he looked down, drawing his arm back in towards himself. As weak as this creature seemed to be, as seemingly ignorant it was to even something as mundane as a fucking ablution trap, it seemed to, understand, if even just a little bit.

He still looked nervous, and there was no helping that. After all the thing went through in the past ten days, he would have had to be _stupid_ to trust a troll so quickly. He uttered out a few more seemingly intelligent noises before dunking under the water temporarily to wet his hair, and he began scrubbing at it with the soap, gaze averted from the troll.

Karkat watched a while longer, entranced, as the creature worked to clean itself. The longer he spent interacting the more he realized that this wasn't just some barely sentient creature; It was an intelligent being. He could obviously understand what was going on. It had just been afraid and by the looks of the bruises both old and new, the cuts and scrapes and the way it shied away from his touch... it had reason to be. He was just trying to preserve itself.

Those kind of thoughts hit too close to home, though. Far too close. He would make sure that it would be kept safe and out of harm and that would have to be good enough.

The troll let the alien bathe itself for a while before clearing his throat. He wasn't looking forward to this but it was something that had to be done. He tried catching the creature's attention, waiting until he was looking towards him, and held up the collar with a chagrined grimace. The alien looked up at him.

"You need this. Who knows what those fucks would do if they got hold of a red-blooded alien without-- without a collar." He turned it around, showing how it opened and then would latch secure and tight at the back. The little silver ring at the front beneath his insignia that marked the creature as his.

The alien had just rinsed itself off, eyes actually beginning to wander, possibly for something to cover and dry himself off with though he still sat in the water. There was no way the creature could understand a lick of what Karkat was going on about, but blue eyes landed squarely on the collar in gray hands.

Something heavy sat in the air. Black, damp brows furrowed slightly and the alien just shrank away, pressing his back against the opposite side of the ablution trap with a confused gaze.

Seeing the creature leaning away only brought up an aggravated sound, something faintly akin to a growl that he tried to suppress.

"Come _on_." He'd been doing so well earlier and now this again. "Just shut up and wear this thing, I don't like it either. You think I want to advertise that I'm some kind of shit for brains who needs something like a slave to be happy or prove his fucking worth and status?" He scowled and leaned in, reaching out to try and catch the alien by the shoulder, reaching forward with the collar opened and ready to slip around it's neck.

The alien hollered more of his unintelligible language, and shoved at Karkat's chest once that hand landed on his shoulder. There was still fear in his voice, but it was starting to be challenged by something less innocent: anger. He appeared to understand at least vaguely what a collar meant. No doubt he saw plenty of them while in the slave trade.

As timid at he seemed to be up until this point, he yelled another word and boldly shoved a hand square on Karkat's face, attempting to shove the troll off of him. The last sound that slipped past his lips almost sounded pathetic, even if it was laced with hints of fury. It sounded almost like _betrayal_. It wasn't like the creature had truly begun to warm up to Karkat, but the fact that he stopped trying to escape was nothing small.

A loud, startled snarl escaped and the troll's first reaction was to reach out and grab the alien's wrist, wrenching it roughly to the side to get out of his face. Hackles rose as he gave a hiss of annoyance. It died out part way as he saw that look in his eyes. Hadn't he only _just_ promised that everything would be alright and then here he was forcing him into a collar.

Karkat resisted the impulse to let go and apologize and instead reached out, slipping the collar around the creature's neck and snapping it shut. The latch caught and sealed itself shut, the workings of the collar activating with a barely audible blip before going silent. Thank you technology.

With the collar on he wouldn't have to worry about the creature running away, which was good because right now he did not want to be here. The pathetic little creature brought up too many painful thoughts, made him feel like a monster with the way it looked at him with those hurt eyes.

The alien stayed still in the water, shivering despite the comforting warmth around him, breathing heavily and muscles refusing to relax. His arms locked to keep himself up, palms flat against the bottom of the ablution trap. Even with his best efforts, even with the adrenaline-fueled strength he summoned to try and shove Karkat away, he was unable to make the troll budge even an inch.

"I'm doing you a favor." He snapped angrily, standing up and heading for the door and slamming it behind him.

It had to be disconcerting for such a creature, to say the least.

After long, agonizing moments, slowly snapped out of his daze. His hands rose immediately to the collar around his neck, fingers scraping against the back, probably in a desperate search for a latch or something. A frustrated groan rose in his throat as he continued to feel for _anything_ , but it felt like the material had melded together, and there wasn't even a seam that could be found. Hands fell back down with a defeated exhale, and he frowned, looking rather hurt. But he couldn't stay here.

He looked around before cautiously getting to his feet, stepping out of the water and onto the soft mat in front of the trap. Eyes wandered around the spacious room, along the walls. Slowly, hesitantly, as if the floor itself could come alive and swallow him whole with one wrong move, he made his way to the sinks. Hands found the lip of a drawer just a few inches below, and he pulled. A few seconds and he closed it, probably confused as hell as to what sort of contraptions _that_ stuff was.

Even in such an unfamiliar environment, the alien continued to timidly search around, finally able to grab hold of something he was probably searching for in the first place; a large bath towel, stowed away in one of the cabinets on the wall opposite of the sinks. He rubbed it over his head a bit before wrapping it around his waist, and he glanced at the mirrors.

He stared at his reflection, expression contorting into one of disappointment. Fingers ran along some of the cuts along his cheeks, a dark but healing bruise above his left eye. He squinted, leaning in closer to finger the collar again, nail tapping against the metal ring just below the center, just below a somewhat familiar symbol...

Blue eyes widened and the alien went pale. Breath caught in his throat and he ran a finger over Karkat's insignia, terror starting to make his blood run cold all over again. It didn't surprise him that it was the same symbol Karkat wore on his shirt, even though it obviously was unsettling; no, what truly made the creature begin to shake was the _color_. The same color on the troll's shirt. The same color of the troll's sash - why didn't he see it before?

 _Indigo_.

He stepped back, away from the mirror, and he looked towards the door. Moment passed as he internally deliberated, before he took a few shaky steps forward, and reached out, fiddling with the handle with increasing anxiety. It didn't take long for him to figure it out, before he opened it and braced himself. Peeking out the doorway, he made sure no one else was in sight - before he quickly made his way down the hall, trying to keep up the pace of a slow run, but a noticeable limp kept him from going into an all-out sprint.

The hive itself was huge, but it was still a miracle that the alien didn't run into Karkat as he hurried through a few rooms. Even such mundane items made him wary, flinching when he brushed past a table, and he back-tracked as if he was waiting for it to attack him. He retreated to the corner of one room, breath heavy and eyes looking around frantically - until he spotted something.

A door, and by the looks of the windows beside it. It was an exit!

Frantically he ran to it, looking back once just to make sure he wasn't spotted, before unlatching it. A cool breeze brushed over his exposed skin and he shivered, looking out into the night sky above. The lawnring itself covered quite amount of land, and the sound of ocean waves crashing on shore weren't too far away. Biting his lip nervously, the alien took a step outside, foot almost touching the wooden surface of what appeared to be a large porch.

He _screamed_.

  


* * *

  


Karkat had been trying to occupy himself with something, anything to get his thoughts away from... everything, honestly. Of course nothing worked. He ended up sitting in a too puffy chair in his study, scowling down at the papers he'd been trying to work on filling out. Various shipping papers, both in and out, a letter half written to his moirail and what had started as a direct requisition for a translator device. If he sent it out tonight then there could be a chance of having it by tomorrow or the next.

It lay abandoned, instead he sat with his forehead against his palm, scowling down at the scratch marks in his desk as he recalled the pitiful- no. Weak. The weak expressions that creature had been making. How soft his flesh had been, how easily it would have been to tear through it with his claws.

The ridiculously bright shade of red that had seeped from it's wound...

Karkat swallowed, rubbing his fingertips together as his mind raced. He would keep the alien out of law and to make sure it earned the 2 million price tag that had been on his head. He had to be good for something. Karkat wouldn't work him like some kind of slave but like fuck was he going to let him just sit around the hive uselessly. He'd be lying to himself if he hadn't decided to make sure that the alien would be kept safe the second he'd realized the shade of his blood. He _would_ keep him safe, so long as he could help it.

He'd turned and picked up his pen, beginning to finish the requisition when a scream shattered the silence of his hive. With a jolt he straightened, looking up and going completely still as he tried to figure out what was going on. A moment later a second scream, shriller than the last, echoed through the hive and he realized something was wrong.

That was pain. The alien was in pain.

The chair clattered to the floor behind him as he stood up. Had it tried to jump out the window again? Had it come across something that had wounded it's paper-thin flesh!? Karkat thudded loudly into the hallway, bellowing in alarm.

"Hey! _Hey_! Where are you!?" Not that it could understand. "Shit. Shit!" It sounded like it'd come from outside.

Heading in the direction he was almost sure he'd heard the sound originate, stopping abruptly as he reached the front hall.

The alien was curled up on the carpet, just a few steps away from the still open door. It writhed, letting out strangled whimpers as it tried clawing at the collar gripping its neck, letting out raspy coughs just as Karkat approached. Thankfully the creature seemed to be decent enough to have found a towel to cover its freaky alien genitals.

Once Karkat got within earshot, wide blue eyes stared up at the troll with panic, and he released another choking sound through his clenched jaws and he shoved himself up against the wall beside the door in a defensive pose. His breath was heavy and frantic, more fresh tears making the alien's eyes glisten pitifully. A hand stayed on the collar around his neck, fingers trying to hook on the metal plate at the front to no avail. Whatever had caused him to scream was gone, but residual terror was still evident.

Whatever had wrenched those screams of pain from him wasn't immediately obvious. A moment of standing where he'd halted, however, had a light of realization flickering in his eyes. The door was wide open, the way the alien was scrabbling at it's throat and it's labored breathing.

"Oh. Oh, fuck, you didn't. How mind-numbingly stupid do you have to be to think that you'd be able to just waltz right outside without any kind of problem or concern. Just. _'Oh hey. My tormentor has left me to my own devices, and look an unguarded door. Surely nothing will fuck up and bite me in the ass.'_ Get over here you stupid pink... what even are you?" Karkat moved towards the alien, reaching down to grab for it's shoulder and make it stand up. His words were clipped and aggravated but there was no real heat behind them.

It was more a non-stop bitching to keep his own mind away from the fact that he'd fucked up. He _was_ this thing's tormentor. He'd completely forgotten about the mechanism that would effectively 'punish' any slave or pet wearing the collar if it attempted to step outside of the hive's parameters without the owner's permission.

It seemed that this particular collar had been turned on to a high level. Now he'd have to fuck around with this piece of crap hardware until he either lowered the charge or figured out how to turn it the fuck off. That or the alien strangled itself while he tried working on it.

Whether or not Karkat had any actual venom in his voice didn't seem to matter. The alien raised its voice - once again an unintelligible language, much softer and smoother than the harsh clicks and chatters of Alternian - and pushed against the troll weakly.

While it was still a motion of protest, it was still a huge improvement compared to the way he silently cowered just hours before. One hand (void of claws, how did this thing survive?) shoved at Karkat's upper arm, the other planted firmly against his chest. The creature seemed to be giving his best effort, calling on a huge burst of strength powered by adrenaline, but his power was still comparable to a damn wiggler. Either its species was unfathomably weak, or the time spent in that slave auction was more brutal than Karkat previously thought.

The creature kept gasping, still trying to catch his breath after it was literally knocked from his lungs from the onslaught of sharp pain. One sound in particular kept rising form its throat in a defiant, yet still terrified cry; " _no_ ".

It was a weird noise. All nasally at first and then ending in the stupidest breathy sound. Karkat would have had to have been a complete idiot to not get the general gist of what it meant. His grip softened only fractionally, his mouth setting into a firm line.

"Just sit still. Have I hurt you yet? Huh? No. It was those fuckers at the auction and your own retarded fault." Karkat wrapped an arm around the alien's thin shoulders to hold him still, holding him half pressed against him. "I mean it. Hold still." His voice was a warning growl as he carefully slipped a clawed finger beneath the collar, turning it so that the back faced him. He avoided flicking his eyes up to look into this wide, terrified blue eyes and instead worked on the interface of the collar.

The alien began to shake again, breath still shallow. But it seemed to give up for the moment, trying to gather its bearings and calm its nerves, words still slipping out of its mouth in stutters every now and then. Hands moved up, one palm pressing against Karkat's collarbone, the other just below the troll's chest. It was a weak, probably half-hearted attempt at a shove, but by now the creature knew it was outmatched. Either that, or it was beyond fatigued.

It resigned itself to small hiccups and shuddered breaths, but for the most part kept still. With the way he had his brows furrowed together just as Karkat brought him close, no doubt whatever tears were falling were most likely from frustration. For as long as the creature stayed in such horrible condition at the slave trade, surely it had given up on crying from fear long ago.

But the proximity no doubt left it continuously uneasy. He stayed still as Karkat fiddled with the tiny screen at the inside of the collar's strap, limbs still shaking faintly.

A faint, mechanical chirp later and Karkat slid his claw out from beneath the collar. He let go of the alien and stepped back, holding his arms out to his sides to show he wasn't going to come at him or anything.

"There. I'm surprised your neck wasn't fucking cooked like some friend cluck beast from that." He sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. He still had the letter to finish writing and the other shit to take care of.

Finally he let his hand drop and moved around the room, going methodically to each door and window and making a show of locking them all. Finally he stopped at the hallway the connected to his study and respite blocks. He spoke very slowly, his words short and loud as though that might get the meaning across better.

"Stay. The fuck. In. Here. Don't go outside." He pointed at the windows, then the doors, then dramatically shook his head back and forth in what he hoped to fucking shit was a universal gesture of ' _FUCKING NO._ ' He then tapped his neck, indicating the collar around the alien's neck. "Leave here and get shocked again. I mean it." Not that it would hurt as much as before, or put it on it's ass again, but it would likely still not be pleasant.

"I'm going this way. Stay. _Here_." And he pointed to the floor, giving the alien a stern, sideways look. Finally he turned on his heel and headed wearily towards his study block.

The alien had pressed his back up against the wall just feet away from the previously open door, watching Karkat with a nervous stare. He'd almost look determined, or downright _pissed_ if he didn't look so damn tired and weak. He didn't offer any more of those weird foreign sounds, choosing to stay exactly where he was in case something else in the room decided to make an attempt on his life.

Once the troll finally left, sharp Alternian words no longer echoing straight through the creature's ears, his shoulders fell lax. Eyes fell uselessly to the ground just beside his legs, and he re-adjusted the towel that had nearly fell off his hips during the struggle.

For a moment his expression softened into something more pitiful, more longing and melancholy. He had resigned himself for the umpteenth time tonight, and decided to cautiously glance about the room. Escaping was no longer an option, not without careful planning. For all he knew, the next thing he touches could send that same spark of pain running through his skin.

Whatever he was bought for, why he was bought, it was something he couldn't think about anymore. As he got to his feet, he looked down the two halls at either end of the room, trying his best to calculate another possible escape as he idly fingered the collar on his still very sore neck. It wasn't worth it. He was too tired. It felt like for once in the past seemingly eternity that he'd spent in a metal cage, he could finally attempt to get some rest.

Hesitantly, he grabbed one of the two blankets sprawled over what appeared to be a couch. Only it couldn't be a couch, because the feet looked like crab claws or something, and there was no way to tell if the contraption was going to swallow him whole or stab him through the chest, or what.

After the night's events, the alien made the decision to steer clear of damn near everything in the room - and instead opted to slowly gather five blankets (after finding a hamper that opened once he accidentally elbowed a button) and the few pillows that covered each seat in the room. He settled down beside one of the more harmless looking tables set near the corner of the room, and just thread a cocoon around him. He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep.

With any luck, his troll owner wouldn't find him.


End file.
